After stabilizing Jiangdong, Sun Quan crusaded against Jiangxia, the gateway to Jingzhou, in the eighth year of Jian'an (203), the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), and the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), and finally eliminated Huang Zu, the Taishou of Jiangxia at that time.

【The First Crusade against Huang Zu】

In the eighth year of Jian'an (203), Sun Quan set off a crusade against Jingzhou again four years after Sun Ce defeated Huang Zu, when he led the army all the way to the west, successfully defeated Huang Zu's army, but did not hit the important town of Jiangxia region, when Sun Quan's general Ling Cao went forward bravely and broke Huang Zu's forward, but he also advanced alone and was shot by Huang Zu's general Gan Ning. (Sun Quan's retainer Xu Kun was also lost and died during the crusade against Huang Zu, but it is impossible to determine which time.) ）

At this time, the Shanyue thieves began to rebel again, and Sun Quan withdrew his army. When Sun Quan passed by Yuzhang, he sent Lü Fan to pacify Poyang, Cheng Pu to crusade against Le'an, Tai Shici to lead Haidu, Han Dang, Zhou Tai, Lü Meng, etc. were all appointed as county commanders or county magistrates of those counties that were difficult to govern, and the following year, Sun Quan's third brother Danyang Taishou Sun Yi was victimized by the left and right, and Sun Quan replaced him with his brother Sun Yu.

【Second Crusade against Huang Zu】

Sun Quan's second crusade was in the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), and this time Sun Quan did not gain much, but only plundered some of the people and returned.

【Gan Ning Comes to Descend】

Gan Ning, the word Xingba, is a native of Linjiang in Ba County, Yizhou (one says that he is a native of Nanyang, and he lives in Ba County). It turned out to be Liu Zhang's subordinates, and later rose up against Liu Zhang with Shen Mi, Lou Fa and others, and his rebellion was quelled by Zhao Wei, so he attached Liu Biao to the east, and lived in Nanyang, but was not reused by Liu Biao, he later turned to Huang Zu to seek support, Huang Zu also raised him as an ordinary person, and then Huang Zu was defeated by Sun Quan, and when he retreated, Gan Ning's generals were cut off for him. He was calm and calm, raised his bow and shot hard, shooting Sun Quan's thief captain Ling Cao. Sun Jun didn't dare to chase after him anymore, and Huang Zu's life was saved. Gan Ning has made such a great achievement, but Huang Zu still does not reuse it.

According to the "Book of Wu", at the beginning, Gan Ning led 800 people to take refuge in Liu Biao, but found that Liu Biao was a literati in his bones, did not practice military affairs, and in the situation of restlessness and strife in the world at that time, he would eventually achieve nothing. So he was afraid that Liu Biao would be involved after his failure, so he was ready to go to Dongwu, but because Huang Zu was in Jiangxia, he couldn't go over, so he stayed and attached to him, and Huang Zu didn't pay attention to Gan Ning for three years, and then Gan Ning shot Ling Cao, there was a great merit, and Huang Zu still didn't reuse Gan Ning.

At that time, Su Fei, the governor of Huang Zu, recommended Gan Ning to Huang Zu several times, but Huang Zu not only did not listen, but let people tempt Gan Ning's subordinates and weaken Gan Ning's strength, Gan Ning was ready to leave Huang Zu, but he was afraid that he would not be able to leave, and he was depressed and depressed alone. Su Fei found out what Gan Ning meant, invited Gan Ning, set up a wine feast, and when he was drunk, he said to him: "I have recommended it several times, but the Lord refuses to appoint you." The sun and the moon pass, how much is life? You should make long-term plans early, find a confidant, and become a big thing! Gan Ning paused for a while and said, "I also want to go, but unfortunately there is no suitable opportunity." Su Fei said: "I ask the Lord to send you to be the chief, at that time, you can decide to go for yourself." Gan Ning was very happy.

So, Su Fei proposed to let Gan Ning be the chief, and Huang Zu agreed. Gan Ning recruited back some of his subordinates who had left, and gathered some people who were willing to follow, a total of hundreds of people, and took them to Sun Quan.

In this way, Gan Ning was attached to Soochow. Zhou Yu and Lü Meng both jointly recommended him to be prominent in the court, and Sun Quan valued him doubly and regarded him as an old minister. Gan Ning said: "Now that the fortunes of the Han family are declining day by day, Cao Cao is even more arrogant and arbitrary, and he will eventually become a national thief who usurps the Han. In the Nanjing area, the mountain barrier is convenient, and the rivers are unimpeded, which is indeed a favorable terrain in the west of our country. I have already seen that Liu Biao has no foresight in considering the problem, and his sons are inferior, and they are not the material that can inherit his inheritance. The Lord should plan and forge ahead as soon as possible, and not fall behind Cao Cao. To plot Liu Biao's plan, the first step is to start with Huang Zu. Huang Zu is now old, deaf and incompetent, military and food are very scarce, the people around him are fooling and deceiving him, and he blindly greedy for money, and deducts from the heads of subordinate officials and soldiers. These men were resentful, and the warships and all kinds of war equipment were broken and unrepaired, and the army lacked well-trained troops. Now the Lord is going to enterprising, and he will surely be defeated. Once Huang Zu's team is defeated, it can beat the drum and march westward, and the army will increase and expand in front of Chu Pass, so that the land of Bashu can be gradually sought. ”

Sun Quan agreed with his suggestion. Zhang Zhao was sitting at that time, and he criticized Gan Ning and said: "Wu itself is in danger, and if the army really marches westward, I am afraid it will inevitably lead to great domestic chaos." Gan Ning replied to Zhang Zhao: "The country has entrusted you with such a heavy responsibility as Xiao He, but you are staying behind and worrying about chaos, what do you use to pursue the ancients?" Sun Quan raised his glass and gave it to Gan Ning and said, "Xingba, this year will go west, just like this glass of wine, I decided to entrust it to you." Although you have tried your best to put forward a combat strategy, so that we will definitely be able to defeat Huang Zu, so you have made a great contribution, why bother with Zhang Changshi's words? ”

Sun Quan then crusaded against Huang Zu for the third time.

【Third Crusade against Huang Zu】

Sun Quan won a crucial victory in the third crusade against Huang Zu.

At that time, in the face of Sun Quan's attack, Huang Zu appointed Zhang Shuo as the vanguard, Chen was the leader of the fleet, and he stayed in Jiangxia. Before the war, Zhang Shuo led his troops to reconnoiter the riverbank by a large boat, but was discovered by Ling Tong, the son of Ling Cao, who was also scouting. At that time, Ling Tong in a small boat only had a few dozen warriors around him, but he still boarded Zhang Shuo's ship, probably disguised as Zhang Shuo's pawns under the cover of night, and attacked Zhang Shuo's army by surprise. Zhang Shuo was killed by Ling Tong, and all the sailors were captured.

Upon learning that Zhang Shuo had been killed, Huang Zu immediately ordered Chen to lead two Mengchong ships to guard the pass, and also had Hercules and archers ambush on the top of the cliff by the river, throwing stones and torches at the enemy's large ships. In order to defeat Huang Zu's Meng Chong, Zhou Yu sent a large fleet, but it was destroyed by stones thrown from the top of the cliff. After a few hours of fighting, Zhou Yu realized that Huang Zu's armament was not so lacking, and Sun Quan could only face the reality of the exhaustion of his soldiers and heavy casualties.

In order to turn the tide of the battle, Zhou Yu ordered Ling Tong and Dong Xi to lead a hundred death squads to each put on two pieces of armor and charge on a large boat with stones and torches. After a hard battle, Ling Tong and Dong Xi finally succeeded in severing the connection between the two Mengchong ships, which also boosted Sun Quanjun's fighting spirit. Lü Meng kills Chen in close combat. The army of Huang Zu, which had lost its leader, was annihilated by Sun Quan's army, which was in the minority. Before Lü Meng completely annihilated Huang Zu's army, Ling Tong divided his troops to capture Jiangxia.

Huang Zu, who was unable to resist Sun Quan, fled Jiangxia, but was chased by the knight Feng Ze. Sun Quan ordered Huang Zu's head to be placed in a container for inspection. After obtaining the head of Huang Zu, Sun Quan sacrificed it to his deceased father Sun Jian.

According to the Book of Wu, Sun Quan once made two boxes to hold the heads of Huang Zu and Su Fei. Su Feituo asked Gan Ning for help. Gan Ning said: "Even if Su Fei doesn't say it, will I, Gan Ning, forget his kindness?" When Sun Quan set up wine, he celebrated the generals. Gan Ning stepped down from his seat and kowtowed to Sun Quan, exchanged blood and tears, and told Sun Quan about Su Fei's kindness to him in the past, and explained: "If Gan Ning hadn't met Su Fei, I would have died long ago, and of course I wouldn't be able to serve you loyally." Now that Su Fei is guilty of being killed, I take the liberty of pleading with you to save him from death. ”

Sun Quan was moved, but still said: "I can let him go, but if he escapes, what will he do?" Gan Ning guaranteed: "Su Fei will not be killed, with the grace of your regeneration, even if he is driven away, he will not leave, how can there be any reason to escape!" If he runs, put my head in place of him in the box! Sun Quan agreed to Gan Ning's request and pardoned Su Fei.